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Show wam. , iv - i '"'''w-ii-(.fl-ww' 1 v' ' ' " , THE CENTER CAR spun around into the opposite op-posite lane after being struck by a truck and a Oral statements were 32 for, 19 against and 4 neutral for the proposed sale of Uintah County Hospital to Hospital Corporation of America for $3.5 million at a public hearing Thursday Thurs-day of last week. At the beginning of the meeting 80 persons signed up to give statements, but because of the length of the meeting, four hours and fifteen minutes, only 54 persons stayed to wait their turn. The hearing, attended by over 300 persons, was sponsored by the Utah Health Systems Agency Uintah Basin Subarea Advisory Council. The hearing was devoted to a presentation by HCA lasting about 45 minutes, questions by public to HCA representatives about one and one half hours and the remainder re-mainder to public statements. Representing HCA was William P. Moore, vice president of Division 7 West, who said, "The quality of health care received is the highest priority if we are successful in acquiring the hospital." He said HCA is unequalled in many services it affords. It stresses decentralization, local autonomy and Pontiac. It finally stopped after colliding into a parked car. EHSostpital hearing brings out issues in proposed sale quality patient care at competitive rates. HCA is the only company to come in with a purchase price on the hospital, County Commissioner Neal Domgaard said. More new equipment is needed in the hospital now, Domgaard said, but commissioners have not felt justified in raising taxes to purchase the equipment. equip-ment. More money will be needed soon for expansion, and the commission feels on the right track in selling to HCA to provide pro-vide for these necessities, Domgaard said. A nursing home has not been built because the county delayed construction construc-tion for private enterprise to do something. The county purchased land recently for a county nursing home. Dr. Paul Stringham, Vernal physician, physi-cian, said he has practiced medicine in the Uintah Basin for more than 30 years and that the turning point for medical care in the area occurred when county commissioners hired John Arnold years ago as hospital administrator. Hospital care started in the right direction direc-tion then, and Ronald Perry has carried on the program. "I consider myself an expert in this field of medicine," the doctor said. "Others at the hospital are considered experts in their fields. All these people's judgements should be considered con-sidered in this sale." All of the 10 doctors on the medical staff at Uintah County Hospital believe the county commissioners should be taken out of the medical health care field, Stringhiim said. He said the nonexperts non-experts are saying the hospital should not be sold and there are some good and some invalid reasons to their views. Opponents of the proposed sale charged that a certificate of need for the transaction incorrectly lists the hospital as nationally accredited. They said HCA .submitted an incomplete application ap-plication to purc hase the hospital. They challenged the Uintah Hospital being currently accredited by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Hospitals. The opposing group turned in copies of petitions, asking for further study on the hospital issue. Petitions bore 3,378 (Continued on Page 2) Hospital hearing - - - (Continued from Page 1) signatures of citizens in Uintah County, said spokesman Dan Coney. If the certificate of need hearing process, pro-cess, which was done away with on May 12 by the Utah Legislature, continues, the next public hearing will be in June by the Utah Health Project Review Advisory Ad-visory Committee in Salt Lake City. One June 25 the Utah Health Systems Agency Health Planning Council will review the hospital request at their meeting at Alta. The final decision will be made by the State Health Planning and Development Develop-ment Agency on or before July 3, if the prescribed hearing schedule is followed. follow-ed. After the hospital hearing the county commissioners stated they were all the more confident they were doing the right thing in selling to HCA. They said they thought the back-bone of the community com-munity had supported them in the agreement they had signed with HCA. |